The Illinois High School Association suspended Young boys basketball coach Tyrone Slaughter for 10 days as a result of its investigation into the practice his team held at Burr Ridge Middle School on Nov. 12.

Slaughter, who was adamant at the time that no rules had been broken, will not be permitted to engage in any team activities from Friday until Feb. 14. The Young program also will be on probation until Jan. 1, 2012.

"This was not an event that came together at a moment's notice," IHSA executive director Marty Hickman said in a release. "Whitney Young's basketball program had ample time to seek clearance from its athletic administration, high school administration or from the IHSA. Had they done so, they would have been notified that a practice of this nature violates (IHSA recruiting by-laws)."

Young's team practiced in front of several Burr Ridge Middle School basketball players, who were invited to the event by middle school administrators. According to an IHSA release, Young had a conflict at its gymnasium that day and practiced at the middle school on the way to a team event.

"This practice violated the IHSA recruiting by-laws and would have done so even if none of the attendees were basketball players," Hickman said. "The fact Whitney Young traveled some 20 miles from its campus to conduct a practice, with an audience which was made up almost exclusively of middle school basketball players was especially troubling. A school's administration can market its programs, but it has to be done in the overall context of the school's academic and extracurricular programs. This event was conducted by the coach and only provided the attendees with the opportunity to learn about Whitney Young's boys basketball program.

"With that said, we did not find evidence that any particular players were recruited, as was previously alleged."

Slaughter, who was suspended for six games in 2008 for recruiting violations, apologized for the "negative perception" the suspension caused the Young program but maintained that the practice was not intended to recruit. His 2008 suspension stemmed from illegal contact with former Rich South and Crane player Crandall Head.

"I apologize for casting Whitney Young and Burr Ridge in a negative light," Slaughter said. "The intention was by no means to recruit or do anything negative or deceptive. The writings from (IHSA administrator Kurt Gibson) suggested that there were no grounds to the charges levied against us erroneously by a high school basketball coach that we were there to recruit a particular player. Even Marty Hickman's comment said there was no evidence of any recruiting that took place."